Created last year by MIT and edX, micro-master’s degrees are considered a career focused minor, intended to attract employers interested in hiring students. This program has no admission process. “Exams in the course are a self-fulfilling admission process, and students don’t pay a dime unless they want the credential”, explained Mr. Agarwal.

This idea has been successfully tested with the Supply Chain Management course, which allows elegible students to cut their time on campus to only a semester. Credits from the micro-master’s count as half of the overall necessary courses required for the full degree. For $1,000, learners get between three to six courses that make up the micro-masters.

These type of “stackable” degrees, designed as entries to graduate programs, are perceived by experts as more-convenient way of learning, specially given the skyrocketing costs of higher-education.

“Think Lego blocks of college education, letting students start with a MOOC, then add a few more MOOCs to get an online certificate, then add yet more courses to get a traditional master’s degree,” wrote Corinne Ruff in “The Chronicle”.